Escape Artist!

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” -Luke 21:36

Harry Houdini lived from 1874 to 1926 and has been considered by many to be the greatest escape artist who ever lived. He was a famous magician known for being able to escape from any entrapment that could be rigged up to stop him. Handcuffs, straight jackets, submerged water tanks, and even underground coffins proved to be no match for the “Great Houdini” who found a way to escape them all as part of his famous act. But while the world marveled and cheered at Houdini’s exploits, there was one final adversary from which he was not able to escape. Death took Houdini in Detroit Michigan on Halloween night 1926 of Peritonitis. He was 52 years old.  And thus once again proved that only one man has been able to truly defeat the grave and escape its clutches: Jesus Christ!

But because of His victory over the grave, our Lord has paved the way for all of those who believe in Him to accomplish something unthinkable to the unbelieving world. A mass evacuation from the earth prior to the wrath that is coming on the whole unsuspecting world very soon. That escape is known as “The Rapture” and it is the greatest escape plan of all time!

Those who like to deny that a “Rapture” event is coming love to refer to Christians who believe in it as “escapists”! This would include both the world of lost souls who deny Christ as well as the A-millennialists and post-millennialists and others who believe in Jesus but claim we must build the kingdom on earth first before the Second Coming. They are like those Peter warned us about in his second Epistle: 

 2 Peter 3:3-7 “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

The mindset of these “Pre-Mill Rapture” haters is that we are worthless to society  (because we aren’t helping make the world a better place by conforming to their cultural advancements ) and worthless to the church's growth  (because we are not advancing the kingdom fervently due to our supposed defeatist ideology). The antagonists sadly come from both outside and inside the Christian camp and often the so-called “friendly fire” from other Christians is even more venomous than from the non-believing world. 

Now it is understandable that those outside proper Christendom would believe we are out of our heads expecting a sudden escape from the planet in the twinkling of an eye! They don’t believe in our Lord and His promises so we should expect them to revile us and reject our hope. But… those within true Christendom who adhere to a different eschatology normally do so because they claim there is no biblical support for our theory. They claim there are no verses that support our position and that it is the creation of John Darby in the late 1800s. 

Now I’m not going to go into detail about all the common points we make about verses such as:

 1 Corinthians 15:52 which says :

“51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed”

Or John 11:23-26

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (Jesus is speaking of the dead who will rise at the rapture and the living who will be translated to an eternal state without dying )

Or John 14:2-3

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Or Rev 3:10

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Or 1 Thess 5:9-11

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

And 1 Thess 4:13-18

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

And there are many more such passages in the New Testament that we can point to as proof of our imminent calling to be with the Lord at the rapture. Those have been discussed by many writers on this site and throughout the watcher community so I won’t hash over those same points here again although they are tremendous proof of our position. 

But what I will delve into here are the possibilities of hidden proofs in the Old Testament. Were there any typologies or foreshadowings we can lean on from the Old Testament to confirm that the mystery of the “Rapture” revealed in the New was also concealed in the Old? I believe the answer is yes and that the keyword Jesus used in Luke 21:36 to give us a clue was the word "Escape"! The rapture is truly an ESCAPE and it’s not something to be ashamed of as the world and the post-millennial church want to accuse us of but is in fact part of the “Blessed Hope" we are to cling to in this late hour. 

“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:12-13

In researching the notion of an “escape” I feel God was very generous in giving us OT examples of “Rapture” typologies. Escapes that, while not always prefiguring a “snatching up “ of the Church, at least symbolized an incredible escape provided by God that revealed God’s protection and provision of safety for His people. 

ENOCH’S DEPARTURE

The first two are pretty obvious. Enoch and Elijah. Both men were taken to Heaven by God supernaturally without tasting death. Enoch was Noah’s grandfather and was “snatched up” to Heaven prior to the Great Flood. The timing may have been a picture of how God would rapture His Church prior to the next worldwide judgment. 

Gen 5:22-24 “After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

We know this was not indicating a mere death because of the passage in Hebrews that says :

11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

And Jude tells us of ancient Enoch having a great understanding of the coming of Christ to judge when He states in the following verses :

“14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.”

Enoch was a perfect example of a pre-judgment “Rapture” foreshadowing an end-times rapture of the church BEFORE the Great Tribulation! 

ELIJAH FLIES AWAY

Although Enoch was certainly a rapture-before-judgment example For us in the Old Testament… Elijah wasn’t so much. His translation to Heaven in a whirlwind was not truly an escape but instead was more of a situation of God choosing a time when people are unaware that snatching away is coming except the true watchers. Elijah was taken to Heaven in a whirlwind and His protege Elisha and a small group of prophets were following his every move to see what was about to happen. Elijah gave Elisha a sign to look for and Elisha was faithful to watch and obey. From 2 Kings 2:9-14

“9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 

12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 

14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.”

Elijah is certainly a type of snatching away, but not so much in the “escape the coming wrath” style that other examples bring. Let’s look further for other examples. 

NOAH AND LOT 

Noah and his seven family members certainly could be considered.  They knew the judgment was coming, faithfully built the ark, and obeyed all the Lord commanded to be ready. Faithfully God preserves them in the Ark as the rest of the world perished. Now they were not snatched away so this example may be more akin to the sealed 144,000 Jews in Revelation who are protected by God through the Great Tribulation. Many have equated Enoch to the Church leaving earth before the judgment and the family of Noah being preserved through the flood like the sealed Jews. The order is correct as well. Enoch raptured, and then the Family of Noah preserved through the flood. The Church will be raptured, then the remnant Jews preserved through the Tribulation. The symmetry is perfect. 

Lot is another example of someone who was evacuated before judgment when His family and He were escorted out of Sodom before God's destruction fell upon that city. It was not a true rapture parallel because They were not translated to Heaven but it was nonetheless an "Escape" from judgment and shows God’s faithfulness to His remnant by them being removed before He pours out His judgment. Lot and Noah may have been the two examples Jesus used in His description of His coming (Luke 17:26-30) because Lot escaped the judgment just as the Church will while Noah was preserved through the judgment as the Jews will be one day. 

ISRAEL CORNERED 

 Another great escape was provided as Moses and the Israelites were backed up to the shores of the Red Sea with the hard-charging Egyptian Army coming at them in full force to massacre the pinned Hebrews. Only a slaughter appeared possible until God opened the waters, provided an escape route for the Jews, and then drowned the Egyptian army behind them. (EX 14:21-29) I see this as more of an OT picture of Revelation 12 where the satanic Antichrist is pursuing Israel during the Tribulation and the remnant are led into the wilderness to safely avoid their destruction but it is certainly an escape provided by God that previews the end times.  It shows God’s nature as a Savior, a deliverer, and a protector of His chosen ones. 

DANIEL GOES MISSING

One passage I have always been somewhat inquisitive about is Daniel 3. It is a bit surprising to me that although Daniel is present in all the chapters of the book, He is visibly absent and not mentioned in chapter 3. Instead, the entire chapter is about a new form of worship being instituted in the Babylonian kingdom and Daniel’s three friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) are the focal point of the chapter’s controversy. 

Everyone in the kingdom is ordered to worship the new statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar in his image and if they don’t, they will be thrown into a furnace and killed. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship anyone but their God and consequently are thrown into the fiery blazing furnace to die but instead of being consumed, a fourth person appears who looks like the Son of God and keeps them safe. They survive the ordeal unscathed to God's glory. My interpretation of the typology in this story is that Nebuchadnezzar is a foreshadowing of the Antichrist. The image He sets up to be worshipped is a picture of the Image of the beast that the Antichrist and false prophet set up in the temple in Revelation 13. The three boys represent the sealed Jews in the Trib that can’t be killed and the one like the Son of God in the furnace with the three is of course Jesus Christ and foreshadows the Jews when they believe on Christ during the tribulation and thus will be saved. 

Because the chapter fails to even mention Daniel, I believe he may represent the pre-trib believers who are absent from the tribulation because they have already been raptured. I certainly could be wrong about this but it makes sense in light of the rest of the chapter lining up so well with the book of Revelation and especially chapter 13. Remember, the Church age is the entire subject of chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation but once the command to “Come up here “ is given to John at the beginning of chapter 4, the church is completely missing through the entire Tribulation period in the next 19 chapters of the book. Daniel's missing during this mini-tribulation preview of chapter 3 may represent the same thing. 

THE GREAT PREVIEW 

Perhaps the most vivid preview of the rapture followed by the Tribulation that is  tucked away in the Old Testament can be found at the end of Isaiah 26 and the beginning of chapter 27:

(Isaiah 26:19-21, 27:1) “Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past.

21 For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.

27:1- In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”

What an amazing picture in the exact chronological order as we see consistent with Daniel’s Tribulation preview and certainly the book of Revelation. The dead are raised and the people are called to come up to their Heavenly sanctuary (At The Rapture) and wait a little while as the 7-year Tribulation unfolds. After they are called to their ESCAPE, God brings judgment (severe sword) to the Christ-rejecting world, to punish the Beast system (Leviathan which is a sea monster known as a Beast from the sea in Revelation 13) and slay it. 

This passage DOESN’T SAY to Israel or the mystery Saints of the Church to “win the world for your king and pave a way for righteousness so He may come to you. Destroy Leviathan and restore the earth to its beginnings !” If that was the message we may be able to see the point of the post-millennialists but the passage lays out the end exactly as Pre-Trib believers would expect it to and is consistent with the Pre-Trib position as all other scripture confirms.  

CONCLUSION

There are many more OT pictures, foreshadowing, and typologies of “Escapes” that God provides to His Elect that declare God’s faithfulness and consistency in How He interacts with His people. This is just a small sampling of the ones that have gone before. 

(Ecclesiastes 1:9) “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Solomon in all his wisdom declared this almost 3000 years ago and we can gather from this that what the world is about to experience has been foreshadowed before in God's divine playbook. Jesus said that His Second coming would come at the worst time in history : 

(Matt 24: 21 ) "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.”

Yet we have many examples of dire wickedness being judged before and how God dealt with it to give us clues what to expect. 

In the same way, Jesus encouraged us to be “Escapists” when He said: 

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” -Luke 21:36

So do we get that? We are to pray we are worthy to escape this horrible coming Tribulation and not be ashamed of our hope by a dying scoffing world or by those members of the Church with cling to wrong eschatological beliefs. We have many examples of how God has provided escape routes before. One thing is definitely certain: If we are about to experience the most awful Tribulation in history as Jesus declared, then we are also about to witness the “Greatest Escape” in the annals of time as well!

“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Rev 22:20